CVE-2013-3868
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedMicrosoft Active Directory Lightweight Directory Service (AD LDS) on Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, and Windows 8 and Active Directory Services on Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1 and Server 2012 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (LDAP directory-service outage) via a crafted LDAP query, aka "Remote Anonymous DoS Vulnerability."
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThis is a denial of service vulnerability in Microsoft Active Directory Lightweight Directory Service (AD LDS) and Active Directory Services. Remote attackers can cause an LDAP directory-service outage by sending a specially crafted LDAP query to affected Windows systems.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if Active Directory or AD LDS is installedCheck installed Windows components via 'Programs and Features' > 'Turn Windows features on or off' or run 'dism /online /get-features' to list installed directory servicesAffected if Active Directory Lightweight Directory Service (AD LDS) or Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) is present and enabled
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Confirm Windows version is within affected rangeRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to display the Windows versionAffected if The system runs Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, or Windows 8 (any version)
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Check if LDAP service is exposed to networkReview firewall rules using 'netsh advfirewall firewall show rule name=all' or check network binding configuration in 'ncpa.cpl' to determine if LDAP ports (389, 636) are listening on external interfacesAffected if LDAP ports are bound to non-loopback interfaces or firewall permits external LDAP access
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Verify the security update is installedOpen 'Control Panel' > 'Windows Update' > 'View update history' or run 'wmic qfe list' to list installed updates; look for KB2871997 or the specific MS13-078 updateAffected if The Microsoft security update for CVE-2013-3868 is NOT listed among installed updates
A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable Windows version with AD LDS or AD DS installed, has network-exposed LDAP, and lacks the CVE-2013-3868 security update.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2013-3868 to all affected Windows systems. If immediate patching is not possible, consider restricting LDAP access to trusted sources via firewall rules or network segmentation to reduce exposure.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-3868 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2013-3868 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data